I am sure that the good people at Lutheran Social Services and other religious/secular agencies who provide services to the immigrant community would be shocked to learn that they are participating in the 21st century version of the slave trade.
Read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair documented this very situation as it was in the early 20th Century meat packing industry. It may not be quite as bad today as it was then, but the principle remains the same - get cheap labor any way you can, and let someone else deal with the consequences.
Corporations are an excellent mechanism for creating wealth, but they must be regulated in order to keep them from destroying themselves and everything around them in the process.
I was a volunteer and mentor to refuges. I was told by my friend, their interpreter, while I was helping with housing needs, “they’re (a young couple) not married”. That young man lied to get in and they all knew it. I was so naive. And, I was shocked to learn, by law, if I remember correctly, they can’t get a job right away. I was so naive about LSS and the system, for starters.
As a Lutheran, I’m ashamed of this. Any organization that aid’s illegals coming into our nation should be band from receiving donations from anyone. NGO’a and groups like this are a blight on our country and are doing sever damage to our citizens. This group should be shuttered immediately. Employers should face large fines for employing illegals. Enough to make them think twice about it. We are lied to at every turn. Illegals can’t get green cards, or work visa’s without going through the immigration process and the largest part of those in our country have not done so and can not legally work at all. If a working is sent to your place of employment, ,ask for copies of their papers so your organization is covered should it be examined. CYA always, Trust but verify!
"On top of that, during the last 4 years President Biden opened the Southern border. In that case, companies didn’t even have to ask. They got labor and the taxpayer just got the burden."
Companies could/can not legally employ undocumented immigrants. Those who sought asylum are entitled to work while their cases are adjudicated. It is high time we have mandatory E-Verify for every employee in the USA.
Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I don't think that is always the case. I had one of them show up where I work (temporary worker). I was assured by the temporary agency that this person had papers, but it was obvious he was under the "watch" of a person who sat outside in a car all day. The worker told me he swam across the Rio Grande. Is E-verify a requirement now? Does it catch people who were given papers?
Out of 34,853,666 cases, E-Verify returned a tentative non-confirmation (TNC) for 1.1 percent (or 383,390 cases). Approximately 0.15 percent of the total, or 52,280 cases, were non-confirmations that were successfully contested (false negatives) — representing 13.6 percent of TNCs. - Aug 14, 2018
The comments on this post made my day! We have two people who have different views coming together and discussing solutions! That's how we make progress!
Catholic Charities operates much the same way. Lutheran Social Services have been connected to organizations that provide assistance to the migrant caravans trekking through Mexico. They provide not only food and transportation services but also legal information and ways to circumvent border patrol and methods to falsely claim asylum. These organizations are very well organized to promote illegal immigration.
This information is very helpful. I included a link where LSS publicly states they are supporting caravans. Do you have one from Catholic Services? linkhttps://www.onelfs.org/2018/11/27/migrant-caravan-statement/
I do agree with you that the large corporations take advantage of refugees for lower priced workers. They do the same with Americans. Many, like Walmart, pay low wages and then the government subsidizes the companies by giving their workers food stamps, housing assistance, Medicaid etc. this is why corporations should have to pay more in taxes- because they make profits from their laborers work but don’t pay wages that can support the laborers and their families.
Great point and I agree...we subsidize many large corporations with low taxes and many benefits to them and NOT to the average America...look at the subsidies given to oil companies, etc.! GREED runs our society!
Don't drag the peopole who are trying to help these folks down with the people who caused the problem. What the government and private industry has done nis unforgivable. Don't paint the people who are trying to help those caught up in this with the same brush.
Of course every NGO is staffed by compassionate volunteers & employees. This only serves as window dressing to the corruption behind these organizations.
LOL. Maybe we should set up a Florida Voices and find out. Seriously, we are trying to stay focused on things that directly impact South Dakota. The posts are designed to encourage discussion. Thank you for joining us.
Many of the refugees have different definitions of family. Back home dad has 10 wives each having several children. In their eyes all offspring from dad is thier family member and they are able to get them so they can move here. I have had refugees tell me that directly. Guess where they send them for a job. Smithfield or JBS in Worthington
It amazes me how you denounce corporations for not paying fair wages and yet denounce the increase in the minimum wage. Back in the 70's whene the Vietnamese refuges were coming to America, my church sponsored one family who became a vital and integrated part of our community. If every church in America took in just one refugee family and assisted them in integrating into our society, we would all benefit!
Hi Edward, I think you make a valid point here, either way someone is going to pay more, I'd prefer to have higher wages at the grocery store. It would democratize the burden of increased cost, whereas if someone pays $300k in Fed income tax vs. someone who pays $6k in Fed income tax, taking tax dollars providing the working poor with welfare while subsidizing businesses in unacceptable.
The current situation, with seemly a surplus of workers (no labor shortage) wages are depressed, employers have the ability to churn through part-time labor, especially in unskilled labor markets, we can add value to their lives, skills and knowhow.
Rather than having corps pay more taxes, they could get a tax benefit by building trade schools.
We seem to have a surplus of under-skilled workers and shortage of highly skilled folks, STEMs with MS and Phd's. Currently the SD University system has 31 H-1B visa's looking for Phd level instructors with an average pay of $83k and possible path to a green card.
Absolutely, it is the business of the church to help, I became great friends with the Nguyen kids, a terrific family and asset to the community.
Subsidizing billion dollar corporations gets in the way of my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
thanks....we agree with more than we disagree....Corporate Welfare far exceeds our wildest dreams! Taxation has always been a sore subject vs increasing prices, etc...I don't mine paying more tax if it goes to helping people and making things better....but a lot of waste and special interests eats up so much of our tax monies! Not sure what the answer (s) is (are), but continuing to explore it and talk about it does help!
In MX there were/are posters from multiple USA based NGOs with instructions how to cross the border, where to go and what agency to call how to get a United Nations cash debit card.
As Michael Welsh points out here in the post, this is modern 21st century version of slave trade.
It is not at all humanitarian, it is evil.
We all can theorize why the previous regime wanted unlimited entry, paid for with our tax dollars.
Chaos, violence and unfortunately a possible terrorist attack within our country all because what exactly?
This is happening on a global scale, why?
Further more:
Before all of this massive illegal immigration started, the US tax payer was subsidizing Walmart employees. How so, because the are purposely under paid, not given enough hours to earn and care for their families. Hence they qualify as the working poor, receiving public assistance, our tax dollars subsidizing a multibillion dollar corp which in turn (2022), "The company also announced a new $20-billion share buyback plan, sending its shares as much as up 7% in morning trading to a six-month high of $148.40." share/stock buy backs increase the value of the share price.
Time to hold our elected officials to account, thing must change or we're going to be broken beyond repair.
Thank you for all the information and links. Thank you for voicing the problem with companies like Walmart paying below market wages and expecting the taxpayers to pick up the difference.
I am sure that the good people at Lutheran Social Services and other religious/secular agencies who provide services to the immigrant community would be shocked to learn that they are participating in the 21st century version of the slave trade.
Read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair documented this very situation as it was in the early 20th Century meat packing industry. It may not be quite as bad today as it was then, but the principle remains the same - get cheap labor any way you can, and let someone else deal with the consequences.
Corporations are an excellent mechanism for creating wealth, but they must be regulated in order to keep them from destroying themselves and everything around them in the process.
Great book. How quickly we forget
Thank you, Michael for your insightful comment. "The Jungle" is a very appropriate read for this topic.
Sinclair was a socialist, and while his desired outcome was wrong-headed, he nailed the problem.
We can do better than this.
Bill, thank you for bringing up the article content, the way the articles are written, and the importance of peer review. Sadly, there are all kinds of problems with the peer review process right now (Stanford https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188828810/stanford-university-president-resigns Harvard https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/06/harvard-claudine-gay-plagiarism), so we are using other techniques to vet topics. You are correct, the articles are written with a slant. This is intentional to encourage discussion.
I was a volunteer and mentor to refuges. I was told by my friend, their interpreter, while I was helping with housing needs, “they’re (a young couple) not married”. That young man lied to get in and they all knew it. I was so naive. And, I was shocked to learn, by law, if I remember correctly, they can’t get a job right away. I was so naive about LSS and the system, for starters.
Check this out Lutheran Social Services has $1,310,346 for refugee services in 2025. Wow! That's crazy. It's hard to get $1.3 million for anything.
https://taggs.hhs.gov/Detail/CFDADetail?arg_CFDA_NUM=93566
As a Lutheran, I’m ashamed of this. Any organization that aid’s illegals coming into our nation should be band from receiving donations from anyone. NGO’a and groups like this are a blight on our country and are doing sever damage to our citizens. This group should be shuttered immediately. Employers should face large fines for employing illegals. Enough to make them think twice about it. We are lied to at every turn. Illegals can’t get green cards, or work visa’s without going through the immigration process and the largest part of those in our country have not done so and can not legally work at all. If a working is sent to your place of employment, ,ask for copies of their papers so your organization is covered should it be examined. CYA always, Trust but verify!
I was all in with your logic until
"On top of that, during the last 4 years President Biden opened the Southern border. In that case, companies didn’t even have to ask. They got labor and the taxpayer just got the burden."
Companies could/can not legally employ undocumented immigrants. Those who sought asylum are entitled to work while their cases are adjudicated. It is high time we have mandatory E-Verify for every employee in the USA.
Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I don't think that is always the case. I had one of them show up where I work (temporary worker). I was assured by the temporary agency that this person had papers, but it was obvious he was under the "watch" of a person who sat outside in a car all day. The worker told me he swam across the Rio Grande. Is E-verify a requirement now? Does it catch people who were given papers?
E-Verify is not mandatory. https://www.e-verify.gov/employees/e-verify-overview
"Does it catch people who were given papers?"
Out of 34,853,666 cases, E-Verify returned a tentative non-confirmation (TNC) for 1.1 percent (or 383,390 cases). Approximately 0.15 percent of the total, or 52,280 cases, were non-confirmations that were successfully contested (false negatives) — representing 13.6 percent of TNCs. - Aug 14, 2018
Thank you for the information. This is very helpful.
The comments on this post made my day! We have two people who have different views coming together and discussing solutions! That's how we make progress!
Catholic Charities operates much the same way. Lutheran Social Services have been connected to organizations that provide assistance to the migrant caravans trekking through Mexico. They provide not only food and transportation services but also legal information and ways to circumvent border patrol and methods to falsely claim asylum. These organizations are very well organized to promote illegal immigration.
This information is very helpful. I included a link where LSS publicly states they are supporting caravans. Do you have one from Catholic Services? linkhttps://www.onelfs.org/2018/11/27/migrant-caravan-statement/
I do agree with you that the large corporations take advantage of refugees for lower priced workers. They do the same with Americans. Many, like Walmart, pay low wages and then the government subsidizes the companies by giving their workers food stamps, housing assistance, Medicaid etc. this is why corporations should have to pay more in taxes- because they make profits from their laborers work but don’t pay wages that can support the laborers and their families.
That is an excellent point. You are right, it is the same mechanism.
Great point and I agree...we subsidize many large corporations with low taxes and many benefits to them and NOT to the average America...look at the subsidies given to oil companies, etc.! GREED runs our society!
Don't drag the peopole who are trying to help these folks down with the people who caused the problem. What the government and private industry has done nis unforgivable. Don't paint the people who are trying to help those caught up in this with the same brush.
Of course every NGO is staffed by compassionate volunteers & employees. This only serves as window dressing to the corruption behind these organizations.
Did you see the comment from Ivy David?
wonder how many foreign workers are working at Mar Largo for sub standard pay
LOL. Maybe we should set up a Florida Voices and find out. Seriously, we are trying to stay focused on things that directly impact South Dakota. The posts are designed to encourage discussion. Thank you for joining us.
The worst part? LSS isn't even a Christian org, anymore (if it even ever was)
Would not give this organization a dime.
Many of the refugees have different definitions of family. Back home dad has 10 wives each having several children. In their eyes all offspring from dad is thier family member and they are able to get them so they can move here. I have had refugees tell me that directly. Guess where they send them for a job. Smithfield or JBS in Worthington
It amazes me how you denounce corporations for not paying fair wages and yet denounce the increase in the minimum wage. Back in the 70's whene the Vietnamese refuges were coming to America, my church sponsored one family who became a vital and integrated part of our community. If every church in America took in just one refugee family and assisted them in integrating into our society, we would all benefit!
Hi Edward, I think you make a valid point here, either way someone is going to pay more, I'd prefer to have higher wages at the grocery store. It would democratize the burden of increased cost, whereas if someone pays $300k in Fed income tax vs. someone who pays $6k in Fed income tax, taking tax dollars providing the working poor with welfare while subsidizing businesses in unacceptable.
The current situation, with seemly a surplus of workers (no labor shortage) wages are depressed, employers have the ability to churn through part-time labor, especially in unskilled labor markets, we can add value to their lives, skills and knowhow.
Rather than having corps pay more taxes, they could get a tax benefit by building trade schools.
We seem to have a surplus of under-skilled workers and shortage of highly skilled folks, STEMs with MS and Phd's. Currently the SD University system has 31 H-1B visa's looking for Phd level instructors with an average pay of $83k and possible path to a green card.
Absolutely, it is the business of the church to help, I became great friends with the Nguyen kids, a terrific family and asset to the community.
Subsidizing billion dollar corporations gets in the way of my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
I'm glad to see the President ask Congress to remove special tax breaks from billionaire athletic team owners, and to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/trump-no-tax-on-tips-social-security-overtime
thanks....we agree with more than we disagree....Corporate Welfare far exceeds our wildest dreams! Taxation has always been a sore subject vs increasing prices, etc...I don't mine paying more tax if it goes to helping people and making things better....but a lot of waste and special interests eats up so much of our tax monies! Not sure what the answer (s) is (are), but continuing to explore it and talk about it does help!
In MX there were/are posters from multiple USA based NGOs with instructions how to cross the border, where to go and what agency to call how to get a United Nations cash debit card.
The USA gave $18B to the UN in 2022 alone, in turn the UN used over $1.5B to help 'new arrivals' come into the USA illegally. https://cis.org/Bensman/UN-Budgets-Millions-USBound-Migrants-2024
This isn't only Lutheran Social Services, Catholic and many other non-governmental orgs do the same. https://www.thefp.com/p/nonprofits-make-billions-off-migrant-children?hide_intro_popup=true
As Michael Welsh points out here in the post, this is modern 21st century version of slave trade.
It is not at all humanitarian, it is evil.
We all can theorize why the previous regime wanted unlimited entry, paid for with our tax dollars.
Chaos, violence and unfortunately a possible terrorist attack within our country all because what exactly?
This is happening on a global scale, why?
Further more:
Before all of this massive illegal immigration started, the US tax payer was subsidizing Walmart employees. How so, because the are purposely under paid, not given enough hours to earn and care for their families. Hence they qualify as the working poor, receiving public assistance, our tax dollars subsidizing a multibillion dollar corp which in turn (2022), "The company also announced a new $20-billion share buyback plan, sending its shares as much as up 7% in morning trading to a six-month high of $148.40." share/stock buy backs increase the value of the share price.
Time to hold our elected officials to account, thing must change or we're going to be broken beyond repair.
Thank you for all the information and links. Thank you for voicing the problem with companies like Walmart paying below market wages and expecting the taxpayers to pick up the difference.